Garten shares 'fool-proof' recipes

C'mon, admit it: You wish you were one of Ina Garten's friends. They mix Cosmopolitans and bring her treats, appearing on her Emmy award-winning cooking show and in the pages of her cookbooks. And they sure eat well.

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By Bonnie S. Benwick

southcoasttoday.com

By Bonnie S. Benwick

Posted Nov. 7, 2012 at 12:01 AM

By Bonnie S. Benwick

Posted Nov. 7, 2012 at 12:01 AM

» Social News

C'mon, admit it: You wish you were one of Ina Garten's friends. They mix Cosmopolitans and bring her treats, appearing on her Emmy award-winning cooking show and in the pages of her cookbooks. And they sure eat well.

No matter. She's practically offering the keys to her kingdom in her eighth book, "Barefoot Contessa Foolproof: Recipes You Can Trust" (Clarkson Potter, 2012; $35; about 100 recipes). In addition to the standard Cocktails and Starters and chapters, Garten devotes one to lunchtime entertaining. So here's hoping we all get to do more of that.

We've become accustomed to the way this author writes a recipe: minimally, yet there's almost always a telling detail — and that's one reason why people appreciate her work. If the topping on the Caramelized Bacon is underbaked, the strips won't crisp as they cool. Proceed even though the batter of the Perfect Pound Cake looks curdled; it will come together soon enough, with a higher mixer speed. The odd ingredient that can't be picked up at the market? The Barefoot Contessa tells you where to find it.

The extra bits — tips about timing, setting a table and composing menus — provide the context that comes across in her television series (the next of which begins in January). The story she tells about making lemonade out of her new but less-than-ideal oven is not meant to be a cautionary tale, but a lesson in kitchen adjustments.

In truth, "foolproof" is not so easy for any instructor to pull off. Garten defines the term applied to dishes that stand the test of time, reliable ones she makes again and again. Already, I've put her Fig and Fennel Caponata into rotation. But cooks without confidence and the kinds of people who scan the fine print at the bottom of car commercials can find imperfections faster than water can find a seam to leak through.

In testing recipes from this book, I managed to choose Cinnamon Baked Doughnuts (who wouldn't?) and produced 18 lovely specimens from a batter that was supposed to yield 12. Maybe that's the downside of mentioning nothing more than a "baking pan." Instead of dipping them in butter, I found that brushing kept the doughnuts kept them from getting too saturated. I suspect she would be the first to endorse whatever adaptation was going to ensure that I'd make the doughnuts again and again.

Garten begins the book with a list of 10 foolproof cooking tips. From someone else, they might come across as commandments, and most of them are things you've been told before. But Barefoot Contessa fans know she wants to simplify, always simplify. Following them won't get you invited to her house in East Hampton, but they will make things nicer for the folks at your dinner parties.

Use an Italian canned tuna packed in oil for this salad, which gets better as it sits at room temperature.

MAKE AHEAD: The partially assembled salad can be made one day in advance and refrigerated in an airtight container. Bring the salad to room temperature, then add the scallions, basil and lemon juice just before serving.

Bring 4 cups of water to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir in the couscous, then reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook for 12 to 15 minutes, until the couscous is just tender. Drain.

Meanwhile, combine the tuna, lemon zest and 1/4 cup of the lemon juice, oil, capers, olives, roasted red peppers, garlic, salt and the pepper in a mixing bowl. Add the just-drained couscous and stir to incorporate. Cover and let sit for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring a few times to make sure the salad is well blended.

Just before serving, stir in the scallions, basil and the remaining 1/2 cup of lemon juice. Taste and add salt (up to 1 teaspoon) and pepper as needed. Serve at room temperature.

For the doughnuts: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Use a baker's spray with flour, such as Baker's Joy, to coat 1 or 2 doughnut pans.

Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a mixing bowl.

Whisk together the egg, milk, melted butter and vanilla extract in a medium bowl or liquid measuring cup. Pour into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.

Fill the wells of the doughnut pans a bit more than three-quarters full with the batter. Bake for 17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the wall of a doughnut comes out clean and the doughnuts are puffed and lightly browned. Let them cool (in the pans) for 5 minutes, then gently invert the doughnuts onto a rimmed baking sheet.

While the doughnuts are cooling, make the topping: Melt the butter in a small saute pan over medium-low heat.

Whisk together the sugar and cinnamon in a medium bowl.

Brush the warm doughnuts with the melted butter, then dip them into the cinnamon-sugar mixture on one or both sides. Serve warm.